Criminal justice reforms headed to governor, but are they enough?

Florida state lawmakers have approved a sweeping criminal justice reform package that some say is only a “baby step” forward in undoing decades of bias, over-incarceration and unfair sentencing.

The bill heading to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk is missing controversial items that would have freed inmates convicted of nonviolent offenses earlier and given judges more leeway to depart from mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders.

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Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel for the ACLU of Florida, said modest reform is better than nothing, but the bill that passed represents a “baby step at best.”

“We have a long way to go, but at least we are moving in the right direction,” she said. “We hope that next year the Legislature will take a real first step.”

Faced with pressure from the governor and House, the Senate stripped out language that would have freed up an estimated 9,000 prison beds and saved taxpayers $860 million over the next five years. That provision would have lowered the minimum time nonviolent offenders are required to serve from 85 percent of their sentence to 65 percent.

Law enforcement groups feared that loosening sentencing laws and freeing prisoners would reverse historic drops in the crime rate. DeSantis expressed concerns about letting out prisoners earlier than their assigned sentences.

“I think the public gets upset when that happens,” he told reporters. “I typically think you should serve your sentence.”

The compromise legislation increases the threshold for felony theft from $300 to $750, a level that has not been changed since 1984. It also reduces the penalty for the third violation of driving on a suspended license from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, said he wanted the reforms to go further, but those items are still significant. He said he will push for more next year.

“This is a great day for Florida,” said Brandes, who led the charge for reform in the Senate. “This is probably the most significant criminal justice bill we’ve passed for decades.”

The measure also expands the availability of inmate reentry programming, reduces barriers for occupational licensing for felons, stops the automatic transferring of juveniles to adult court, deletes a mandatory sentence for selling horse meat for consumption and limits the number of offenses that can result in driver’s license suspension.

Criminal justice reform marked one area where Democrats and Republicans found common ground. Last year, Congress united to pass modest criminal justice reform at the federal level. The Florida House voted unanimously in favor of the package Friday.

Queen Brown, a member of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, traveled to Tallahassee to urge lawmakers to pass the bill.

A Miami Gardens resident, Brown said she’s been on both sides of the issue. Her son was murdered in a shooting in 2006. She said she also has seen the toll that mass incarceration has taken on her community. She viewed the bill’s passage as a “giant step in the right direction.”

“You are going to see less broken homes,” Brown said. “You are going to see communities grow.”

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Rep. Paul Renner, the bill’s sponsor in the House, said he’s satisfied that the changes won’t put Floridians at risk.

“In respect to public safety, nothing in this bill will disturb a 50-year low in our crime rate,” he said.